Section of Uber drivers ‘unhappy’ with reduced fares

More than 500 Uber drivers and partners converged at Karura forest near the CID headquarters where they held consultations on the matter under the umbrella of Kenya Digital Taxi Association/FILE

By RUTH NYAMBURA, NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 1 – A section of Uber drivers and partners said they were on a “go-slow” Monday over the reduction of prices announced by the online taxi company last week.

More than 500 Uber drivers and partners converged at Karura forest near the CID headquarters where they held consultations on the matter under the umbrella of Kenya Digital Taxi Association (KDTA) which is chaired by Emmanuel Kasina.

Kasina said they are aggrieved by Uber’s decision, saying it will bring losses to them.

“We need Uber management to know they cannot make any decisions without consulting their stakeholders; we need them to rethink their own commission because they reduce what is going into our pockets but not what is going into theirs,” he said.

He said they will not be operating from Tuesday and will be on the streets to express their grievances as well as to demand for fair action until Uber agrees to discuss the issue.

KDTA coordinator Nelson Macharia said: “Some of us are still paying loans and this will only make it harder for us to repay them because the profits are too little.”

KDTA secretary Peter Mbugwa said: “We are suggesting that there are other alternates and we have other options we can work with it’s not only Uber,” he said.

This comes after the online taxi company announced a 35 percent fare reduction last week in a move aimed at attracting more riders.

They said they would offer the drivers Kenya shillings 150 for the 79 peak hours and Sh450 for the 69 off-peak hours as compensation but this has not satisfied the drivers and partners hence the strike.

The chairman urged the ones still operating to comply with the others in order for the unfair action to stop.

It is estimated that Uber has 3,000 taxis operating in Nairobi alone, with others in Mombasa and Thika.